Why We Don’t Certify Melee / Pave Diamonds?

Quick Diamond Lesson!

Why are melee diamonds usually ( 1 carat or less) not certified?

If you don’t know what a melee diamond it’s the small pave diamonds set in jewelry- commonly under 1 carat total weight. 

You’ll find the answer below. 

I believe it is a common misconception that melee stones “normally” come with certifications. They don’t and it’s not common at all. 

I recently sold a gorgeous pair of 1 CTW lab grown diamond studs. Upon arrival my customer was very not happy they weren’t certified. They assumed they would come with certification and they did not. Below you’ll find the reasons they were not.  

1. Cost effectiveness. Each stone will cost approx. $75 - $100 to certify plus the cost of shipping and insurance on your package. Cost of shipping back and forth, and  to your home. Ouch!

If you’re looking to save money it’s cost prohibitive.

For example, say your tennis bracelet has 100 stones… drum roll…that is an additional cost of up to $10,000!

Ouch! If you’re buying lab it just doesn’t make sense, right? Even if you’re buying natural it still doesn’t make sense! All of a sudden your 11k necklace becomes 21k! Yikes!!!

🤯🥵

2) Gia just won’t certify melee stones individually. They just flat out won’t do it. They will do them by batches for your diamond dealers. Then you can get an apprasil for your melee diamonds that are set by your jeweler.

3.) An appraisal is more cost effective for your piece of jewelry. It’s commonly used to grade the entire piece of jewelry. It’s done by a person who carries a certification to appraise jewelry. They’ll verify your diamonds grading ( weight, dimensions, color, etc), and they’ll give you a replacement value for your jewelry paper. Which would or could be used for insurnace purposes.

I hope that sums it up for anyone with this question!